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“Silver for him. Blue for you.” She gives them to me.

“Tiffany blue,” I remind her, remembering the ring I saw in the bridal magazines at the salon. It was like a circle and a square had a big sparkly baby diamond in a teal blue box.

“By the power vested in me by the town of Magnolia Grove and the great state of Alabama, I now pronounce you bear and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”

My nose presses to Beau Bear’s, and I hear the click and whoosh of the camera.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Beau Bear.”

I struggle and pull my heels out and pick up my new husband as we march down the makeshift aisle lined with fairy lights. Petals and freshly cut grass clippings rain down on us.

I can’t wait to do this for real. Everyone I love standing in my favorite place in the whole wide world. It’ll be magical. We pack up and head in just as the first of the fireflies light up the grove.

“Someday, I will marry my hazel-eyed beau right here at Silver Oaks farms. I have it all planned. My daddy will walk me down the aisle. I’ll be wearing Momma’s white lace, standing under the pink petals and twinkle lights. And, Emmalee, you’ll be standing right next to me. I swear on my life,” I tell her, squeezing her hand as we follow my cousins back up the hill. “I even swear it on the Bible,” I add with a whisper, knowing my momma would swat me for saying such a thing.

“I believe you.” She squeezes back.

Because the only thing I love as much as love… weddings.

Chapter 1

Lucy

“Here comes the bride…” Briar singsongs as I cross the threshold of the pale pink Victorian house turned bridal shop enveloped in nostalgic charm.

“Hey, you!” I adjust the brimming tote bag on my shoulder and hug my cousin.

“You and that Mary Poppins of a tote bag,” she teases, knowing her camera bag is twice this size. But as a wedding planner, you never know what you might need on the first day of forever.

“Lucy!” Briar’s best friend and college roommate turned business partner, Camilla, comes to the foyer to greet me. “How was your flight? Did Henry make it in yet?”

“My flight arrived late this morning. He should be here this evening.” Typical Henry, always leaving me waiting, I should be used to it by now. “But at least we’ll have tonight. He flies back out tomorrow afternoon after our meeting And I head back home to a long list of wedding plans.”

“Oh, that’s right. Your big interview with the magazine is tomorrow in the city,” Briar adds. “Can you believe it, Camilla? A real-life celebrity in our shop.”

“I honestly can’t believe that the same bridal magazine I used to obsess over as a little girl is going to be featuring my wedding. How does something like that even happen to someone like me? I’m still relatively new in the world of wedding planning.”

“Talk about the right place at the right time,” Briar gushes.

“Thanks to you.” She was the one who dragged me to the hotel bar for drinks at a wedding expo where we met one of the writers for Blissful Bride. They were looking for an unusual wedding story to feature in an upcoming issue. It doesn’t get much more unusual than someone with one of the most romantic jobs getting proposed to via FedEx.

“You’re the one who sealed the deal by telling her you could plan a wedding in thirty days.”

“That was definitely the liquor talking.” Although the exposure is worth rushing to the alter because I need the business… and the money. “Besides, nothing about Henry and I has been traditional to this point. Why start now?”

“That’s the understatement of the year.” Briar teases. “At least he finally put a ring on it.”

A ring I’m still speechless to see on my finger, even after the couple of months that it’s been here. I steal a peek at the lovely Tiffany solitaire on my ring finger. “We had been so off and on, it took so long to get to this point and now that we’re here… it’s moving so fast.”

I mumble but Briar catches every syllable.

“You just say the word and I’ll drive the getaway car.” She winks at me, but I know she’s dead serious.

“I’ll keep that it mind.”

“Briar!” Camilla scolds her friend. “Lucy, I think the article is very exciting and I can’t wait to see what happens after it blows up and everyone finds out about Magnolia Grove’s best kept secret.”

“Stop. You guys are the ones building a wedding empire right here in Aurora Hills.”